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Technological advances in vending machines have enabled consumers to purchase vended products using apps, debit and credit cards. We have also seen other advances inside the vending machines. We’ve all made trips to the vending machine to purchase a soda and chips only to have our selection fail to vend after we swipe our credit card. Frustrated, we think the machine charged our card so we make a call to the number on the machine looking for a refund. Or worse, someone shakes the machine in hopes of getting the product to drop, which can cause a lot of damage to the machine. But did you know up-to-date vending machines include a guaranteed vend delivery system?

Each vending machine has an infrared light sensor at the bottom of the machine. Each snack or drink passes through this infrared light as it is dispensed. If the snack or drink doesn’t break the beam of light, it will give the customer credit back to make another selection. This feature makes the customer experience more reliable and minimizes the need to call customer service or request a refund. Not sure if your machine has a guaranteed vend delivery system? Many machines will have a sticker indicating the presence of one; you may also see a message appear after selecting your product. If the machines is equipped with a guaranteed vend delivery system, a message typically pops up encouraging the consumer to make another selection or dispense a refund. Guaranteed vend delivery systems can take care of a problem before it starts. Who needs a frustrated customer?

The results are in and it looks like diet soda may not be as bad for you as researchers thought. Recent studies suggests there are more factors to consider when trying to link diet sodas to obesity, increased blood pressure and diabetes. Experts still worry about the chemicals present in diet soda and for some there isn’t even a question on whether or not diet soda is worth the risk. “Just get rid of it,” Keri Glassman, R.D.N advises. “It is filled with unhealthy chemicals, including artificial sweeteners, which actually make you crave more calories later.”

Some experts suggest taking a closer look at other bad habits to see if they play more of a role in decreased health than an occasional indulgence in a can of diet soda. Other bad habits might be to blame, if you are a smoker or live an inactive lifestyle, diet soda may not be the true offender.

“Consumers of diet soda who engage in other lifestyle behaviors associated with poor health outcomes are at a greater risk than those who balance their intake of diet soda with other healthful habits,” says Cara Harbstreet, of Street Smart Nutrition as Women’s Health notes. “The variables make it difficult to pinpoint whether diet soda consumption alone is the cause of negative health outcomes, or whether it’s the culmination of a number of factors…I lean towards the latter, since nothing in nutrition or health exists in a vacuum.”

For those looking to cut down on the amount of sugar or artificial sweeteners added to your drinks, consider switching to a seltzer or removing soda from your home but ordering it at a restaurant or bar.

“Choosing to drink (or eat) any one specific item is always a deeply personal choice,” Harbstreet says, “So I pose the question, which is the lesser of two evils?”

We want to hear from you! Do you think diet soda plays a key role in decreased health status? Or should consumers consider other bad habits before blaming diet soda?

Pop your tabs for the Ronald McDonald House Charities! The Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) help keep families with sick children close to their kids and provide the care and resources they need. Having a child fighting an illness can be tough on the family both financially and emotionally, but RMHC works to provide housing, finances for moving to a new city, and helps with medical and dental care in vulnerable communities. RMHC has chapters in more than 63 countries and regions. There are 359 Ronald McDonald Houses around the world!

A continuous fundraising program that the Ronald McDonald House Charities participates in is the pop tab collection program. The organization works with local recycling centers to receive money for collecting tabs from aluminum cans. You can donate the pop tabs to any McDonalds restaurant or a local Ronald McDonald House Charity.

Do you know why they collect pop tabs versus the whole cans? The pop tab is actually made entirely of aluminum whereas the can is a combination of metals, so you get more money from the pop tab than the can itself! The donated pop tabs are weighed to determine their value and then the recycling center sends the RMHC the value of the pop tabs. RMHC receives this money to help fund their programs. Yearly, RMHC serves more than 7 million children and families so by popping your pop tabs, you have the ability to help families across the world stay with their loved ones and give hope to a brighter future!

Do you want to get involved in helping the Ronald McDonald House? You can help out with the pop tab collection program by getting your family, friends, and coworkers involved in popping their tabs for the Ronald McDonald House!

It’s created a lot of hype recently and people all over the US are scouring stores in search of their names on Coke bottles and cans. The Share-A-Coke campaign this Summer 2014 is a big hit and takes product personalization to the next level. Coke has not only replaced their logo with 250 of the most popular names on some of their 20oz bottles, but the Share A Coke Tour with over 500 stops nationally gives people the chance to personalize 2 of coke cans of their own – one for themselves and one for a loved-one or friend. For the tour, Coke has set up a ton of cool vending machines that print custom names on cans instantaneously and dispense them to you! There haven’t been any stops in Iowa but we’ve seen a ton of names in stores here and it’s extremely exciting! We’ve also seen in stores; 12oz coke cans with nicknames such as “BFF”, “Gamer”, “Legend”, “Buddy”, and “Star”, just to name a few.

The campaign has also created a huge amount of buzz on social media for Coke, especially with Instagram and Facebook. As of mid-July, there had already been more than 125,000 posts about the campaign.So all-in-all, we’d say the campaign has already seen success, not only with brand conversion among purchasers but mainly with the online community.

The Share-A-Coke Tour even came by Iowa State University a short while ago and we made a bunch of cans for ourselves and our friends! Here’s a picture of our cute customized cans:

Did you find your name? Let us know! Don’t forget to #shareacoke when you share your pictures on Instagram and Facebook